Dish rack



' Sept. 15, 1925." 7 H. R. MERSELES DISH RACK Original Filed Dec, 4, ,1922 3 Sheetg-Sheet l w w w m Sept. 15, 1925.

H. R. MERSELES DISH RACK Original Filed 'Dec. '4, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EELS Sept. 15, 1925. 1,553,624

H. R. "MERSELES DISH RACK Original Filed Dec. 4, 1922 s Sheets-Sheet 5 ELK Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES.-

. 1 1,553,624 PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. .MER SELES, OF BRONXVILLE, YORK, ASSIGNOR T HERBERT E.

' HEBSELES, OF BRONXVIILE, YORK.

msn Back.

Application filed December 4, 1922, Serial No. 604,638. Renewed December 31, 1924.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY R. Mnnsnnns,

washing machines,'although it is applicable also to dish racks used independently of such machines.

The invention aims to provide a dish rack in which any chipping or .discoloration of the dishes is avoided by preventing the dishes from coming in contact with any metal parts. I

.A further object of the invention is to provide a dish rack in which there are no crevices in which grease or particles of food may collect.

Dish racks have ordinarily been constructed in whole or in part of wires ex tending in different directions and attached together, sometimes in the form of a wire mesh. It has been found, however, that if the dishes are permitted to come into direct contact with the wire, they are frequently chipped, and sometimes discolored. Var1-' ous expedients have been adopted to keep Thus reeds or wooden rods have in some cases been placed over the wires, and in other cases portions of the wires have been .covered with soft rubber tubes. These-expedients, while serving. to keep the dishes out of contact with the wire, have resulted in for'min numerous cracks or crevices, and

these crevices, as well as those formed by the wires at their points of attachment and their crossing points, collect particles of the food removed from the dishes, so that the rack cannot easily be kept in a clean and sanitary condition.

In accordance with the present invention the whole dish rack or the part constructed of wire is covered with a continuous coating of vulcanized rubber, which is soft enough to prevent chipping of the dishes, effectively prevents discoloring or staining of .the

dishes by the metal wire, and at the same 66 time fills and smooths over all the crevices v Fig. 4 being a vertical section on the line the dishes out of contact with the wire.

formed between the wires at their points of attachment and'crossing so that the wire portion of the rack presents a smooth even surface which may easily be kept clean.

In order that the invention may clearly be understood, I have, in the annexed drawings, illustrated its application to two types of dish rack, one having a framework consistlng entirely of wire, and the other hav-- mg a framework consisting in part of wire mesh and in part of wood or other material.

Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively a plan view and a side elevation o a dish rack having an all metal frame;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged fragmentary views of parts of the dish rack shown in Figs.- 1 and 2, Fig. 3 being a horizontal section on the lines 3 -3 of Figs. 2 and 4,

44 of. Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a plan view, partly in section, and a side elevation, partly in section, of a dish rack having a framework constructed partly of metal and partly of wood; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarged fragmentary views of parts of the bottom of the dish rack shown in Figs. 6 and '7, Fig. 8 being a sectional elevation, and Fig. 9 a plan view with part of the rubber coating broken away. p

The frame of the dish rack shown in Figs. 1 to 5 has an open mesh bottom consisting of a plurality of concentric circularly curved wires 10,11 and a plurality of radial wires 12,13 which cross the. wires 10, 11. The curved wires 10 at the left-hand side of the rack (Fig. 1), which is intended for the support of plates, lie in a common plane, while the radial wires 12 at this side of the rack. also lie in a common plane and cross the curved wires 10. The curved wires ll at the right-hand side of the rack (Fig. 1), which is intended forthe support of cups and glasses, lie on the conical surface, while the radial wires 13 at this side of the rack are inclined upwardly toward the outer edge of the dish rack so as to lie across the curved wires 11. v

U wardly extending loops 14 are formed in t e radial wires 12 at the points where they cross the circular wires 10. The sides of each loop 14 are pressed together so that the loop is in eifect'an upwardl projecting pin. The outer ends of the ra ial wires 12 are turned upward to form .peripheral pins 15. Loops'16 are formed in the radial wires 13. These loops are similar in form-to the loops 14, but not as closely spaced. Similar loops 17 are formed at the outer ends of the radial wires 13, and these ends 18 are then extended downwardly until they reach the plane of the curved wires 10. Three wire hoops 19 are secured to the vertical outer end portions 15, 18 of the radial wires 12, 13. The framework may be provided with handles. 20 and with an annular flange 21 to supportit in the tank of a dish washing machine.-

All the wires of which the framework is made are attached together by solder 22 at their points of crossing, while the ends of the curved wires 10, 11, -are-- similarly at-' tached to certain of the" radial wires as shown in Fig. 1. After the wires of which the framework is made have been completely assembled and soldered together and the flange 21 has been soldered in position, the entire dish rack is dipped in a rubber solution. When the dish rack is removed from the -solution, it is completely coated with the solution, and the solution adhering to the rack is then vulcanized in the usual manner to form a continuous coating 24 of vulcanized rubber.

As the making of rubber solutions and the vulcanizing of rubber are well understood, they are not described herein in detail. It may be noted, however, that the solution is suchas to make the coating 24 adhere to the wires, and to make the coating tough and rather hard, but not brittle.

terwoven, as shown in the drawin As best seen in the detailed 'views, the rubber coatin 24 fills the crevices 25 betweenthe radial and curved wires and the crevices 26 between the sides of the loops 14,

so that the entire dish rack is given a smooth, even surface which may easily be kept clean.

The framework of the dish rack'shown in Figs. 6 to 9 consists of four wooden sides30 and a bottom 31 of wire mesh. This mesh is formed of crossing wires which may be lilllie ends of the wires extendi in each 'rection are secured to the end wires extendin' in the opposite directionby means of so der. If desired, the crossing wires may also be soldered together at intermediate points, but this is not essential.

After the mesh 31 has been formed, it is dipped in a rubber solution, and the adhering solution is then vulcanized so as to form acontinuouscoating 34 of vulcanized rubber covering the entire mesh. This coating fills' the crevices 35 between the wires at the points where they cross and provides a. smooth surface which may easily be kept clean. It may be noted that it is not essential in order to provide such a surface that the coating extend to the very bottoms of the crevices 35. Thus, small unfilledspaces 36, shown at the bottoms of the crevices 35, in Figs. 8 and 9, are entirely immaterial. When reference is made to the coating as filling the crevices in the claims which follow, therefore, this expression should be understood to include instances in which the coating does not extend to the very bottoms of the crevices.

The invention is by no means limited to the particular forms of dish rack shown in the drawings. It will be readily understood that the invention is applicable to any form of dish rack constructed in whole or in part of wire mesh or of crossing metal wires.

Certain features of the dish rack shown in Figs. 1 to 5 form a part of the subject matter of my co ending application filed August 17, 1922, erial No. 582,396, and are in consequence not claimed in the present application.

What I claim is:

1. An open mesh dish rack having a dish supporting portion consisting of a mesh of crossing wires, and a continuous coating of vulcanized rubber covering said wires and g the crevices at the crossing points of said wires.

2. In a dish rack as defined claim 1, the

combination of two parallel wires positioned contiguous to each other and a continuous coating of vulcanized rubber covering said wires and filling the crevices between their contiguous sides.

3. An open dish rack consisting of wires extending in different directions and attached together, and a continuous coating of vulcanized rubber covering said wires and at the points of attach- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. I 3

HENRY R. MERSELES. 

